The Kathua rape and murder is a blot on the Indian national project and the people of India should force political parties into doing the right thing

People hold placards at a protest against the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua near Jammu and a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

An eight-year-old girl belonging to a nomadic Muslim tribe was repeatedly gang-raped, drugged, beaten and ultimately killed by a group of men in Kathua. This has been revealed in a charge sheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir police’s crime branch.

The accused include a local priest and police officers. Some lawyers of the Jammu and Kashmir bar association are obstructing the course of investigation and demanding, needlessly, that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have supported this demand and actively communalized the incident.

It is sad to see such a large section of society coming together to obstruct justice in this horrendous crime. Politicians haven’t shown the spine to stand up for the victim. Rahul Gandhi of Congress, too, tweeted in support of the victim only after outrage erupted over his long, unconscionable silence.

Kathua is a blot on the Indian national project and the people of India should force political parties into doing the right thing.